Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARy 20, 2023 31 2023 POWER 50 Adrienne Cochrane Adrienne Cochrane has devoted her nonprofit career to underserved and disenfranchised individuals and communities. Her work is centered on achieving racial and gender equity and social justice. As CEO of the $9-million YWCA Hartford Region, Cochrane and her leadership team have and continue to expand programs and services in Hartford. She's also overseeing the transfor- mation of the Hartford-based nonprof- it's headquarters into a Center for Racial Justice and Gender Equity to create sustainable impact for women, girls and families, particularly women and girls of color. "My nonprofit work is consistently mission-centered and solutions-fo- cused on serving those most vulner- able," Cochrane told the Hartford Business Journal last spring. "Social justice requires that we disrupt and dismantle unjust practices to achieve social transformation." One of the YWCA's most ambi- tious recent initiatives is the launch of a social enterprise, Persimmon Petals, an online flower and gift shop that it's running out of its Broad Street headquarters. The organization raised $130,000 in startup capital from donors and a matching grant from the Hartford Foundation to build the business from scratch, including hiring two experienced employees, developing an online portal and renovating floor space. The goal of the venture is to create a new revenue stream that can be reinvested in the business and allocated to the YWCA, and also provide on-site training to women interested in learning new business and entrepreneurial skills. Cochrane was previously the pres- ident and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Hartford. She received a law degree from the St. Louis University School of Law and serves on a number of boards, including the Paid Family and Medical Leave Authority. Rev. Shelley Best Rev. Shelley Best was named CEO of the Greater Hartford Arts Council last year and one of her top priorities is to transform the arts and culture industry to better repre- sent the region's rich diversity. That would attract new artists, tap into Bank's Connecticut market president since 2015, responsible for starting up and operating all of the bank's activities within the state. A UConn alum, he joined M&T, which has $197 billion in assets, in 1996 and previously worked as a middle market lending group manager. In one of the bank's early moves following the People's acquisition, it opened a new multicultural branch in East Hartford. Weinstock recently told the Hart- ford Business Journal that labor pressures, interest rates and digital banking trends will have the greatest impact on the industry in 2023. One of his jobs is to recruit talent. "In Connecticut, we're seeing a battle for talent in the banking industry as we're looking to identify and grow tenured and seasoned people," he said. "For newer entrees to the industry, we must focus on investment in training and professional development." Andreas Kapetanopoulos When New York-based NBT Bank was looking to break into the Connecticut market a few years ago, it searched for a veteran banker with local knowledge and contacts to lead those efforts. It hired Andreas Kapetanopoulos to establish a regional office in Greater Hartford, and recruit a team of commercial bankers. Kapetanopoulos has helped NBT Bank, with $11.5 billion in assets, grow its Connecticut footprint since then, opening branches in West Hartford and Glastonbury. Most recently, NBT made its biggest splash yet in Connecticut, announcing plans to acquire Lakev- ille-based Salisbury Bancorp for $204 million. The deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, will extend NBT's reach in Connecticut and the Hudson Valley region of New York. Over the course of an approxi- mately 30-year banking career mostly focused on Greater Hartford, Kapeta- nopoulos gained experience in many facets of the business, including commercial, small business, munic- ipal and retail banking. Prior to joining NBT, he was senior vice president of SBA and small business lending for People's United Bank. Before that he worked at Farm- ington Bank and TD Bank. Kapetanopoulos earned his MBA and bachelor's degree from Boston University. cut-based bank with $7.3 billion in assets. A graduate of Providence College, Glidden also attended The National School of Banking in Fairfield and The Ivey School of Executive Management in Toronto, Ontario. Matthew E. Hummel Looking to jump-start its commercial lending activity in Connecticut, Ohio-based KeyBank hired industry veteran Matthew Hummel in 2020 to recruit and lead a sales team. So far, the $187.7 billion-asset bank seems to like his performance. Last year, Hummel was promoted to Connecticut market president. Hummel, a former All-American college basketball player at Colby College, previ- ously spent most of his 30-plus-year career at Bank of America. His focus at KeyBank has been on the middle market commercial lending space, providing loans and other financial services to companies with between $25 million to $2 billion in revenue. He's recruited several top commercial bankers to his steam since joining KeyBank. The avid UConn fan who has lived and worked in Connecticut his who life recently told the Hartford Busi- ness Journal the biggest challenge in 2023 will be riding out economic uncertainty. "Higher interest rates, increasing inflation, expectations of an impending recession, and general geopolitical unrest are all creating a level of economic uncertainty and volatility that is impacting commercial loan demand," he said. "My team and I foresee a softening in loan demand over the next year or so until the economy evens out." Michael Weinstock Buffalo, New York-based M&T Bank didn't have the smoothest transition last year following its purchase of People's United Bank, experi- encing problems related to tech- nology and account conversions and other issues that led to frustrated customers and politicians. It's part of Michael Weinstock's job to turn things around for the bank this year. Weinstock was named M&T Bank's Hartford regional president in 2022, following the People's United deal. Previously, Weinstock was M&T one of the Energy & Innovation Park, the city's brand new Health Department facility, the extension of the Stanley Loop Trail, and a part- nership with GoNetspeed that will allow city residents to access more affordable internet. Stewart, the city's 40th mayor and its second female mayor, is fiscally conservative but progressive on many social issues. She's a strong proponent for gay rights and is pro-choice on abortion. Stewart, who was the youngest mayor when she was first elected at age 26 in 2013, does have political aspirations beyond city hall. She is seen as a rising star for the GOP – a woman who has been able to stave off repeated Democratic attempts for her job in a city where registered Democrats far outpace registered Republicans. In 2018, Stewart ran for governor. Many believe she will seek her party's nomination for the state's top political job again down the road. Stewart and her husband Dominic Mutone, who works in the city's Public Works Department, have a young daughter, Lina. Stewart also is a lifelong Pittsburgh Steelers fan, following in the foot- steps of her father. David Glidden Middletown-based Liberty Bank last year tripled its downtown Hart- ford office space at 100 Pearl St., growing from 1,200 square feet on the third floor to about 5,000 square feet on the 13th. The move accom- modates Liberty's fast-growing Greater Hartford commercial lending division and comes amid a key strategy shift the mutual lender adopted a few years ago under CEO David Glidden. The shift included refocusing the bank's lending portfolio on more local turf up and down the I-91 corridor, with the Hartford region being central to that effort. The downtown Hartford office is responsible for coverage of about half of Connecticut and a portion of Massachusetts. Glidden was named Liberty Bank's CEO in March 2019, succeeding longtime banker Chandler J. Howard. Glidden brought with him over 30 years of industry experience, including most recently as a regional president for the northern New England and upstate New York region for TD Bank. While many banks have been gobbled up in recent years, Glidden has pledged to keep Liberty Bank independent. And amid continued industry consolidation, Glidden is now leading the second-largest Connecti- 21 22 23 26 24 25 David Glidden Matthew E. Hummel Adrienne Cochrane Michael Weinstock Rev. Shelley Best Andreas Kapetanopoulos

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